“It’s soooooooo hot today.” Luna whined to her colleague who was busy watching a video on her phone in a corner of the classroom.

The girls were busy playing by themselves. They had no school since it was summer vacation but the daycare was still open for kids whose parents are unable to take care of them during the day.

Luna frowned when her colleague didn’t respond. “Hey, what are you watching?

Again, no response so Luna decided to take a peek at what Victoria was watching but the video was almost ending and all she could see on the screen were 6 sticks of ice cream. Finally Victoria removed her earphones.

“So what were you watching? Hmm? ?” Luna had her arms folded across her chest, pretending to interrogate her colleague.

“You seriously think you look scary?” Victoria rolled her eyes.

Luna unfolded her arms and pouted, “That’s mean!”

“I was watching a tutorial on how to make ice lollies. Since, it’s so hot, might as well make ourselves some cold treat to cool ourselves.”

“Sounds like a plan. Are we gonna get the girls involved?”

“If you’re willing to clear the mess later, why not?”

“Well, they’re messy eaters anyway so what difference would it make? I’ll gather the girls. You prepare the stuff.”

*

Victoria had to run to the nearest grocery store to get some fresh ingredients and the ice-lolly moulds since the daycare didn’t have any. In the meantime, the girls were tasked to help Luna move their study tables to form a large table to fit all 9 girls in a straight row.

“Teacher, what are we making today?” Taeyeon asked while helping Luna to wipe the tables clean.

“According to Teacher Vic, we’re making ice lollies.”

“WAAAHHHH ICE LOLLIES! MY FAVOURITE!!!” As expected, the shikshin buddies were overly excited.

“Ice lollies? Why can’t we just buy ice cream?” Tiffany asked.

Before Luna could answer Tiffany’s question, a certain ice princess had beat her to it. “Because it’s hot outside.”

“But ice cream on a hot day is nice!” Tiffany retorted.

“No! Ice cream on a cold day is better!” Hyoyeon argued.

“No! The hotter the day, the better!” Seohyun joined the heated argument.

“Nooooo! The colder the better!!” Sunny wasn’t going to let her friend lose in this debate.

Before long, all 9 girls argued about when was the perfect time to have ice cream. There were 2 teams:

Tiffany, Seohyun, Yoona, Sooyoung and Yuri in the “Hot Team”

Jessica, Taeyeon, Hyoyeon and Sunny in the “Cold Team”

Luna had given up on trying to break up the argument because she knew it was pointless so she allowed the girls to argue. However, she was slightly worried the girls would start hitting each other.

“I’m baaaaaack~” Victoria came in and all 9 girls stopped arguing and ran to the washroom to wash their hands.

“Thanks for saving me. I thought I was gonna go deaf from all their screaming.”

“What were they arguing about?”

“If having ice cream better on a hot, sunny day or on a cold day.”

“I was gonna say that’s childish but they’re kids so what do you expect of them, right?”

*

The girls were now done making their ice-lollies. Thankfully there wasn’t much of a mess to clear. Just as Luna was about to start cleaning the classroom, Victoria let out a scream from the kitchen. Thinking her colleague must have seen a cockroach; Luna grabbed the broom next to her and a roll of newspaper. She took a deep breath before braving herself to enter the kitchen.

“Vic?” Luna popped her head into the kitchen.

“LUNA! THE FREEZER HAS STOPPED WORKING!”

“WHAT?” She dropped the broom and newspaper.

“IT’S NOT WORKING!! EVERYTHING IN OUR FREEZER HAS MELTED AND IT’S NOT COLD ANYMORE! HOW ARE WE GONNA MAKE ICE LOLLIES WHEN WE DON’T HAVE ANYTHING TO MAKE IT INTO ICE?”

Luna was about to suggest that maybe they could use the other classes’ refrigerator but they were the only class with one.

“Ok ok calm down. How about we just get ice cream from the ice cream truck in the park nearby?”

“Sounds like a plan! I’ll get the girls ready.” Victoria placed the ice-lolly moulds on the kitchen counter and was about to make her way out when Luna stopped her.

“What do you mean get the girls ready? We’re not bringing them out. I’ll buy the ice cream and come back.”

Victoria pouted (and it was a horrible sight for Luna), “But it’s a perfect day for the girls to be out. The weather is lovely.”

“You know what happens when we bring them out.”

“But we’ll be extra careful this time! Besides, what could possibly go wrong?”

*

The two teachers and the girls were now queuing up to get their ice cream from the ice cream truck that was outside the park. All of them were sweating and their shirts were soaking wet. However, they were all very excited to get the cold treat. Well not all of them since the Cold Team still find it ridiculous that they’re standing under the blazing sun waiting for ice cream.

“Alright girls, now listen carefully. After you’re done placing your order, stand under that huge tree there with Teacher Victoria, ok?” The girls all nodded after Luna gave the instructions.

After a long 5 minutes, they were finally at the front of the queue. One by one, the girls took turn to place their orders. As instructed, once they were done, each girl would walk up to Victoria who was waiting for them under a huge tree that would provide some shade while they have their ice cream.

Their orders were:

Taeyeon: Melona Melon

Jessica: Melona Strawberry

Sunny: Samanco ice cream sandwich

Tiffany: Piggy Bar

Hyoyeon: Samanco ice cream sandwich

Yuri: Piggy Bar

Sooyoung (she was planning to buy the whole truck tbh): Samanco ice cream sandwich

Yoona: Melona Strawberry

Seohyun: Melona Melon

Seohyun was the 5th to place her order and as instructed, she made her way to the big tree. She decided to sit down since she was tired from the walking and queuing. Victoria was busy trying to break the fight between Sunny and Hyoyeon. The other girls who were under the tree were Sooyoung and Yoona. The two shikshins were busy comparing which ice cream was better.

“Hello!” Seohyun turned around and was surprised to see a girl standing next to her.

“Um, hello.” Seohyun muttered, unsure if she should talk to strangers but she didn’t want to seem rude. Her mother had always told her that it wasn’t nice to be rude to people.

“My name is Hwanhee. I’m 4 years old. What’s your name?” The little girl who was carrying a sand bucket that was filled with kits and toys to build a sandcastle asked.

“I’m Seo Joohyun but my friends call me Seohyun. I’m 4 years old too.” The maknae introduced herself.

“Hello Seohyun!” Hwanhee greeted her again with a slight bow, “Do you want to play with me? We can build sandcastles!”

Seohyun eyes widen at the mention of sandcastles. She loves building sandcastles for her Barbie dolls even though most of the time they can’t fit in it. She took a look around her. Teacher Victoria was busy so she decided to tell her Yoona unni that she would be gone for a little while.

“Yoona unni.” Seohyun called out to the older girl. As Yoona was in a very intense debate with Sooyoung, she could only take a quick glance at Seohyun and ask what was wrong.

“Please help me inform Teacher Victoria that I’m going to go play with Hwanhee.” Seohyun pointed to her newfound friend. Without much hesitation, Yoona only nodded and continued her debate with Sooyoung.

Now that at least someone knows of her whereabouts, she grabbed Hwanhee’s free hand and the two new friends happily skipped to the sandbox that was in the park.

*

“Here you go girls!” Luna held out the pla